STAND UP AND SHOUT! or . . . NOT!

USATODAY.com asks an interesting question: "Does Height Equal Power? Some CEOs Say 'Yes'"

"Le Gourmet Gift Basket CEO, Cynthia McKay wears 3-inch heels even though she's 5-foot-9 in bare feet. Why? For the same reason that 6-foot-3 Don Peebles, CEO of The Peebles Corporation, the nation's largest African-American owned real estate development company, puts his hand on the shoulders of shorter adversaries and crowds into their personal space when negotiating a key deal.

"It's to gain a 'subliminal sense of power.' Peebles says.

"Several studies indicate that taller men are more likely to be successful and that the advantage begins early. A 2005 study in Finland found that baby boys who were taller than average by their first birthday earned more (money and power) 50 years later.

"Corporate CEOs also tend to be taller, and those who aren't taller have a way of appearing so. Retired GE CEO, Jack Welch, at 5-foot-7, makes searing eye contact and will pull his chair around to sit close in one-on-one conversations. Harold Burson, Chairman and Architect of the largest public relations firm, Burson-Marsteller, says he is 5-foot-6, 'probably a little less now that I'm 86.' He says his theory is that short CEOs rise from within the company. 'Executive search firms tend to produce the 6-foot outsiders,' he says.

"'When we avert our eyes, or cower, or speak in meek, whispery tones, we don't instill feelings of trust and safety, ' says Jill Blashack Strahan, CEO of Tastefully simple.

"'Height, voice quality, stance . . .(are) not going to cut it without the substance,' says Linda Sawyer, CEO of Deutsch Advertising Agency. 'Survival of the fittest has become survival of the brightest.'

Is this a lot of bunk? I don't think so . . . in my 35 years of experience as an Image Manager, I've encouraged women to use the assets they have . . .high heels, jewelry, clothes that fit well and "trained" body language. Use your face, your eyes, your voice to project who you are and what you know. The symbols of femininity can be powerful. Don't discount them.

If you are short . . .learn to project . . .adjust your seat in board rooms to the same level as the tallest person in the room . . . if your seat doesn't adjust to that level . . .get a new one.'

The same advice is true for short men . . .only more so!

For men and women in powerful positions . . .sit at the center of the table . . .always face the door . . .use solid colors to compliment your status and put some "wind" behind your voice.

"Who's smartest, who can think fastest." That's today's game.

Lara Tiedens, an organizational behavior professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, has written extensively about how executives achieve status. "People of status use an open stance and vigorous gestures, look directly at others, speak loudly in a deep voice, interrupt at will and lean in close or otherwise reduce the space of others and expand their own. What does all that audacity get them? Others see them as smarter, more competent and deserving of all their promotions."

Tiedens says "studies of gender and influence indicate that women invite backlash when they try to be verbally dominant. But there seems to be greater acceptance when displays of female dominance are non-verbal. She says that wearing heels makes sense, although she is unaware of any high-heel research outside the realm of podiatry.

If you are a tall woman and have slumped your shoulders and spine to accommodate the height of the man in your life . . .don't take it with you to the office . . .stand up straight . . . when you walk through the door to your office, a client's office or a competitor's office.

STAND UP AND SHOUT . . .why not!

Let me know how it turns out. . . right now I have to take my 3-inch heels off for a "power pedicure"!